PETROCKSTOWE teenager Lynn Vallance thought the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital?s Cherrybrook ward did such a terrific job looking after her uncle she has raised more than £550 to say thank you.
The fourteen-year-old organised a coffee morning to raise some cash, which she gave to the ward as a gift.
The Okehampton College student galvanised friends and neighbours in Petrockstowe to donate items. She then set up stalls in the family garden to sell cream teas, cakes, plants and bric-a-brac to all and sundry.
?My uncle David was being treated for cancer at the RD&E and went to Cherrybrook for chemotherapy,? she said.
?He?s back home now and doing really well and I wanted to do something to say thanks to the ward staff because they were so good at looking after him.
?They were all brilliant. The nurses, the healthcare assistants, the housekeepers and the porters. And it wasn?t just the way they looked after him. They were just as supportive, caring and sensitive to the whole family.?
Lynne said the staff took time to explain what they were doing and always answered the family?s questions in simple terms they could understand.
?They always told us the truth, so we felt we could trust them. This helped to put our minds at rest, too,? said Lynne.
Lynn?s mum Anita said her daughter?s can-do character lay behind this and previous fundraising successes.
?She believes that things will work out in the end and is always keen to take the initiative and do something positive,? she said.
Cherrybrook ward manager Paul Smith said: ?This is a fantastic effort by Lynn and we are extremely grateful. We?re always pleased to know that people value our work. And donations such as this enable us to offer something extra to patients and to members of the team so in the long run we can improve our services still further.?